K-Kids at Wilkinson are officially underway. Sixteen students met on February 8th to form the club. They discussed K-Kids core values, developed project ideas and elected officers for the school year. Club officers left to right in the photo are:

The current annual "Club and Condo" food drive spans the Kiwanis year - October 1st 2017 to September 30th 2018. Last year (2016-2017) the drive resulted in just over a two ton donation to All Faiths Food Bank. Co-chair Marianna Ehmke reported donation at our last meeting in September and said that if we could raise 4,000 pounds for All Faiths, why not 5,000 pounds? So this year's goal is 5,000 pounds. Given that we're almost 40% into the year, we thought it appropriate to post a progress report.

"OK - So how we doing?" Well, as of February 14th Co-Chair Carolyn Kofler reported the donation total is 2,129 pounds - just over 41% of our goal suggesting that we're on track to meet our end of September target of 5,000. As good as that sounds we need to maintain the larger perspective: (1) Donations increase during "season" as visitors move in and out of condos on Siesta Key. Expect donations to fall off as summer approaches. (2) Our Club begins our summer meeting schedule in July when members go on vacation (really? to where?). So during the summer we expect member donations to slow. AND THEN (3) The drive received a year-end holiday boost from the law firm of Williams, Parker, Harrison, Dietz and Getson. John Moore, Past President of Sarasota Kiwanis, worked with Carolyn to put a collection box in his firm’s break room with great success!

And by happen-stance Carolyn’s bank, the Bank of America (BoA) branch at S. Tamiami and Stickney Point, had a full collection box and asked Carolyn if she could arrange to transport the food donations from their customers to All Faiths. The short answer was “yes, of course.” Even better she's been back many times since. In short, our Club and Condo Food Drive is on track but we must keep our eye on the goal.

Maybe we should change the name to the “Club and Condo and BoA and Williams, Parker, Harrison, Deitz and Getson” Food Drive. The again, maybe not.